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    The Buddha A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes
    The Buddha A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes
    The Buddha A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes
    Ebook141 pages1 hour

    The Buddha A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes

    By Paul Carus

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    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArchive Classics
    Release dateNov 26, 2013
    The Buddha A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes
    Author

    Paul Carus

    Paul Carus (1852-1919) was a German American author, scholar, and philosopher. Born in Ilsenburg, Germany, he studied at the universities of Strassburg and Tübingen, earning his PhD in 1876. After a stint in the army and as a teacher, Carus left Imperial Germany for the United States, settling in LaSalle, Illinois. There, he married engineer Mary Hegeler, with who he would raise seven children at the Hegeler Carus Mansion. As the managing editor of the Open Court Publishing Company, he wrote and published countless books and articles on history, politics, philosophy, religion, and science. Referring to himself as “an atheist who loved God,” Carus gained a reputation as a leading scholar of interfaith studies, introducing Buddhism to an American audience and promoting the ideals of Spinoza. Throughout his life, he corresponded with Leo Tolstoy, Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, Booker T. Washington, and countless other leaders and intellectuals. A committed Monist, he rejected the Western concept of dualism, which separated the material and spiritual worlds. In his writing, he sought to propose a middle path between metaphysics and materialism, which led to his dismissal by many of the leading philosophers of his time.

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      Book preview

      The Buddha A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes - Paul Carus

      The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Buddha, by Paul Carus

      This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

      almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

      re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

      with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

      Title: The Buddha

      A Drama in Five Acts and Four Interludes

      Author: Paul Carus

      Release Date: September 27, 2007 [EBook #22782]

      Language: English

      *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BUDDHA ***

      Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Sankar Viswanathan,

      and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

      http://www.pgdp.net

      Transcriber's Note:

      The spelling, accents, and diacritical marks of Sanskrit names is not consistent in the book. The Table of Contents is not part of the original book.

      THE BUDDHA

      A DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS AND

      FOUR INTERLUDES

      BY

      PAUL CARUS

      CHICAGO

      THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO.

      LONDON: 149 Strand

      1913

      CONTENTS

      DIRECTIONS TO THE STAGE MANAGER.

      The scenery can be made very attractive by both historical accuracy and a display of Oriental luxury, but the drama may easily be performed with simple means at a small cost without losing its dramatic effect. Some of the changes, however, should be very rapid. The interludes can be replaced by lantern slide pictures, or may be omitted.

      If the interludes are retained there need not be any intermission in the whole drama.

      The music for the Buddha's Hymn of Victory, pages 5 and 39 (see The Open Court, XIX, 49); the dirge on page 19, (Open Court, XIX, 567); Yasōdhara's Song, page 37 (Open Court, XVIII, 625); and the Doxology, page 63 and at the end (Open Court, XVIII, 627), may be found in a collection entitled Buddhist Hymns (Chicago, Open Court Publishing Co., 1911).

      COPYRIGHT BY

      THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING CO.

      1913

      CAST OF CHARACTERS.

      All vowels to be pronounced as in Italian.

      GLOSSARY OF FOREIGN TERMS.

      Buddha, the Enlightened One, the Saviour.

      Bodhi, enlightenment or wisdom.

      Bodhisatta, a seeker of the bodhi, one who endeavors to become a Buddha.

      Bodhi tree, the tree under which Buddha acquires enlightenment.

      Muni, thinker or sage.

      Sakyamuni, the Sage of the Sakyas, the Buddha.

      Tathāgata, a title of Buddha, which probably means The Perfect One, or he who has reached completion.

      Nirvāna (in Pali, Nibbana) eternal bliss.

      Kapilavatthu, capital of the Sakyas.

      Kōsala, an Indian state divided into Northern and Southern Kōsala.

      Sāvátthi, capital of Northern Kōsala.

      Jētavana, the pleasure garden of Prince Jēta at Sāvátthi.

      Mágadha, a large kingdom in the Ganges Valley.

      Rājagáha, capital of Magadha.

      Uruvēla, a place near Benares.

      Arāda and U'draka, two philosophers.

      Licchávi, a princely house of Vesali.

      Nirgrántha (lit. liberated from bonds), a name adopted by the adherents of the Jaina sect.

      Indra, in the time of Buddha worshiped by the people as the most powerful god.

      Issara, the Lord, a name of God Indra.

      Yama, the god of death.

      Káli, a Brahman goddess, called also Durga.

      ACT I.

      FIRST SCENE.

      [A tropical garden in Kapilavatthu, in the background mountains, at a distance the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. On the right near the front a marble bench surrounded with bushes. Further back the palace entrance of the Raja's residence. Above the entrance a balcony. On the left a fortified gate with a guard house; all built luxuriously in antique Indian style.]

      Present: Suddhodana, the king (S); Pajapati, the queen (P), and the minister of state Visakha (V).

      S. My son Siddhattha truly loves his wife,

      And since their wedlock has been blessed by this

      Sweet, promising, this hale and healthy child,

      His melancholy will give way to joy,

      And we reclaim his noble energies

      To do good service for our race and state.

      New int'rests and new duties give new courage

      And thus this babe will prove his father's saviour

      For he will tie his soul to life again.

      P. I fear his grief lies deeper than you think.

      S. What sayest thou, my trusty counselor?

      V. This is the last hope which I have for him,

      I followed your advice and tried all means

      To cure Siddhattha of his pensive mood.

      I taught him all that will appeal to man:

      The sports of youth, the joy of poetry

      And art, the grandeur of our ancient lore,

      The pleasures e'en of wanton sense; but naught

      Would satisfy the yearnings of his heart.

      S. Yet for religion he shows interest:

      He ponders on the problems of the world.

      V. Indeed he ponders on life's meaning much,

      Investigates the origin of things

      But irreligious are his ways of thought.

      He shows no reverence for Issara,

      And Indra is to him a fairy tale.

      He grudgeth to the gods a sacrifice

      And sheddeth tears at immolated lambs.

      Oh no! he's not religious. If he were,

      His ills could easily be cured by faith,

      By confidence in Issara, the Lord.

      S. What then is your opinion of the case?

      V. Siddhattha is a youth of rarest worth,

      And he surpasseth men in every virtue

      Except in one.—He is too independent:

      He recognizeth no authority,

      Neither of men nor gods. He suffereth

      [More and more impressively]

      From the incurable disease of thought.

      S. Cure thought with thought, teach him philosophy,

      Show him the purpose of our holy writ.

      Instruct him in the meaning of the Vedas,

      Reveal to him their esoteric sense.

      V. My lord, I did, but he is critical,

      He makes objections and will not believe.

      He raises questions which I cannot answer,

      And his conclusions are most dangerous.

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